Edward Smith enlisted in the Army at age 17 on Aug. 31, 1949.
One year later, just three days after his 18th birthday, he was declared missing while fighting in the Korean War.
On Friday, more than seven decades after he went missing, he was laid to rest alongside his parents in his hometown of Bethlehem. Smith’s remains were identified in May by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.
“To me it’s a miracle,” Anita Smith, Edward’s sister-in-law, said of his remains being identified after 74 years.
Cpl. Edward “Eddie” Smith was a member of Baker Company, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, and went missing Aug. 31, 1950, while fighting North Korean forces near Changnyong, South Korea, according to the DPAA.
In October of that year, a set of remains was recovered from a grave in a rice paddy near the village of Ibang-ni, about 8 miles from there. Investigators could not scientifically identify the remains, and the following February, the remains were taken to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.
The DPAA exhumed the remains in June 2021 for analysis and identification. Scientists used dental and anthropological records to identify Smith.
Anita Smith said her husband, David Smith, who was Edward’s brother, provided DNA to the DPAA a few times to see if Edward could be identified. The DPAA’s mission is to account for missing personnel in the country.
It wasn’t until mid-May that she and her husband received the call that the remains were identified.
Anita Smith said hearing the news was like finding out someone close had died. But this time it was better, she said, because he was finally coming home.
“It just made me speechless,” she said.
Anita Smith never knew her brother-in-law, but tried to get to know him through some letters he had written to his mother during the war. The letters were saved.
Edward Smith was one of four boys, and was about eight years older than David. The two were close and would spend a lot of time together. Edward would even take his brother along with him when he went on dates, Anita Smith said.
He was also known to have a beautiful singing voice, she was told.
Legacy of service
Edward Smith and his family lived in different areas of Bethlehem through his life. His family had a history of serving in the military. His father served in the Navy and two of his brothers served in the Army.
Continuing that same legacy of service, Edward Smith volunteered for the Army. He never graduated from high school.
His division fought a number of battles against North Korean forces for positions on the Naktong River near Yongsan, South Korea, according to the DPAA. On Aug. 31, 1950, North Korean forces crossed the river and overran several American positions, DPAA records state. Smith was killed during the fighting, but the exact details of his death are not known, officials said.
His remains were flown to Philadelphia last week, with full military honors. Soldiers removed his casket from the plane when his remains arrived.
‘When you saw that plane, it just hit that ‘my God, he’s here,'” Anita Smith said, adding that it “overwhelmed” her emotions.
One soldier stayed with his remains the entire journey from Hawaii to the funeral home. That soldier told Anita Smith he was honored to accompanyhim.
“I just found that very moving,” she said.
David Smith is the only surviving brother of Edward Smith.
“I’m so glad that he’s still here to bring his brother home,” Anita Smith said.
Edward Smith is buried with his parents, whose headstones both have, “In remembrance of Edward J. Smith” inscribed on them.
“We’ve all very grateful for the Army for what they’ve done,” Anita Smith said.
Edward Smith is also memorialized in the Court of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific and on the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall, according to the DPAA.
He is the second soldier from the Lehigh Valley whose remains were recently identified decades after his death. Pvt. Earl Seibert, a World War II soldier from Allentown who died in 1942, was identified late last year . He was laid to rest in his hometown over Memorial Day weekend .
‘They thought he was never coming back’: Allentown WWII soldier whose remains were recently identified gets a proper burial over Memorial Day weekend
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